I was first introduced to Trattoria di Carlo, 8469 S. Howell Ave., three years ago for a work function. We were set up in a very nice private room for pizza and pasta.

With a little help from his family, owner Carlo Pedone opened the restaurant 10 years ago after spending 10 to 15 years helping run his parents restaurant in Burlington.

Pedone is a first-generation Italian American. Although he was born in the States, he spent most of his childhood in Sicily before his parents moved back here and opened their own restaurant.

Pedone told me he can be found at the restaurant most evenings interacting with the guests, helping out in the kitchen, or working on the books. When I asked him about his recipes and how he got started, he had a big smile on his face.

He is clearly proud of what he and his family have accomplished and is passionate about what he does.

My Monday night visit found a fairly full front dining room and bar. I was impressed, considering how many restaurants close on Mondays due to a lack of business.

The dining room was full of wooden tables and chairs with dark stain on them. The walls, booths and cloth napkins were in different shades of burgundy. The ceiling had curved, brown columns with horizontal gold-colored ridges between them and large decorative bunches of grapes hanging from them.

The menu at Trattoria di Carlo is very large. While paging through it, I found small pages inserted with additional menu items and specials for the evening.

Steaks, seafood dishes, a kids menu with smaller pasta portions, and a family-style dining option can also be found. Family style is for a minimum of four people and at $19.00 per person, diners would choose two entrees and two pastas with sauces. Bread, salad, and desserts (cannoli and tiramisu) are also included.

It wouldn't be a Wisconsin restaurant without a Friday fish fry. Their fish fry features breaded Icelandic cod served with garlic bread, salad and a choice of fries or a baked potato for $9.50.

A series of flatbread pizzas under $10.00 has been added recently including a Portabella, Buffalo Chicken and a Siciliana with sun-dried tomato puree and topped with mozzarella cheese, asparagus, portabella mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, artichoke hearts and jumbo Sicilian olives.

Pedone explained that the Mattarocco sauce is made with diced tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and basil. Sounds delish! I'll have to go back and try it.

Specialty pizzas start at $12.50 on an 11-inch crust. Most of the specialty pizzas are only available on the original hand-tossed crust in 11 and 13 inches. Others are available on the 18-inch crust.

There is also a build-your-own pizza section. Choose from "Carlo's Famous Original Crust", extra thin crust, thick crust, pan-style, or Chicago-style stuffed crust. The 11-inch original crust with cheese starts at $11.00 with toppings starting at $1.25.

All of the pizzas are sprinkled with Romano cheese and oregano.

I started with the Barbecue Chicken pizza on the original hand-tossed crust. The outer edge of the crust was crispy but softer toward the center. The texture was light and the flour flavor was a bit stronger than I typically like.

What really stood out to me was the rich and tangy house-made barbecue sauce. I would gladly put that barbecue sauce on rib tips or pulled pork.

Small bits of onion are spread over the barbecue sauce followed by a thick layer of delicious mozzarella cheese. The chicken is oven-roasted and diced, then spread out over the top of the cheese. Some of the chicken was a bit dry. I think putting the chicken on top of the sauce before adding the cheese might have helped.

Next up was my favorite combination of sausage and pepperoni, but instead of ordering thin crust, I selected the pan-style crust.

The crust was pleasantly crisp throughout. It didn't have the dense or doughy texture I was expecting. So, this pizza was also off to a good start.

Most of the pepperoni slices were crispy. They were on the mild side but with good flavor. The sausage was applied as medium-sized chunks, almost resembling small meatballs. It was also on the mild side with good flavor.

The sauce had a fresh tomato taste to it. However, the taste of tomato was subtle, which worked well for my taste buds.

Pedone explained, with pride, that all of the sauces are made from scratch. Trattoria di Carlo doesn't start with a canned tomato sauce or paste. They import San Marzano and Roma tomatoes from Italy.

The tomatoes are peeled and then pureed into a sauce. Then they add their own seasoning blend. As I alluded to earlier, even the barbecue sauce is made from scratch. Naturally, the pizza dough is also made from scratch.

Most of the pizza recipes at Trattoria di Carlo are over forty years old and come from Pedone's father. Many of the recipes for other menu items come from Pedone's father and grandmother. However, his own recipes can also be found, including his recipe for success.

Ten years in business and a full dining room on a Monday night in single digit temperatures should speak volumes. Trattoria di Carlo seems to have a loyal following. The banquets, wedding rehearsal dinners and other private parties they book are a bonus.

Speaking of which, I also learned that Pedone is a fellow UW-Whitewater Warhawk. This could be a nice location for alumni gatherings. Go Hawks!

Talkbacks

Facebook comments

Disclaimer: Please note that Facebook comments are posted through Facebook and cannot be approved, edited or declined by OnMilwaukee.com. The opinions expressed in Facebook comments do not necessarily reflect those of OnMilwaukee.com or its staff.

I am one of the many that participates in fantasy football leagues. One year, a league commissioner ordered pizza from Michaelangelo's, at 8330 W. Puetz Rd in Franklin, for our draft party, and I enjoyed it enough to add it to my list.

I googled Magellan's upon getting a recommendation and learned it offered the self-proclaimed "best pizza in Waukesha." I haven't had great experiences with Waukesha pizza, so I figured I'd give this place a visit.

Early last year, there was quite a bit of buzz over the transformation of Palermo Villa into Divino Wine and Dine, 2315 N. Murray Ave., and equal buzz about Dean Cannestra taking over the space after closing his previous venture, Libiamo.

I started working for my current employer six years ago. A few months after I started, one of my team members invited us all over to his Sussex home for a Packers party. Among the popular party foods were pizzas delivered from a nearby pizzeria. The pizza was good enough - and the name was catchy enough - for me to remember them both all of these years later.

About Rick Rodriguez

I was born and raised in Milwaukee, and I plan to stay in Milwaukee forever. I'm the oldest of three children and grew up in the Riverwest neighborhood. My family still lives in the same Riverwest house since 1971.

I graduated from Rufus King High School and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a business degree.

My true passion for Milwaukee probably started after I joined the Young Professionals of Milwaukee (now called FUEL Milwaukee) which just celebrated its one year anniversary at the time. The events that I attended, and sometimes organized, really opened my eyes to what Milwaukee had to offer, as well as its potential for the future. So for the past, present, and future FUEL Milwaukee corporate sponsors out there, that organization does produce results (editorial)!

I love all of the Milwaukee Sports teams, professional and amateur. I love the Milwaukee arts scene and all of the festivals. I love that you can find a free concert in the summer just about every day of the week. I love the various neighborhoods around the Milwaukee area and the unique characteristics that they offer. I love the people who take the time to tell us about those unique characteristics. I have to hold my breath and count to ten when someone tells me that there is nothing to do in Milwaukee. Then I prove them wrong.

Most of all, I love the Milwaukee dining scene. I love how it continues to evolve with modern dishes and new trends while the classic restaurants continue to remind us that great food doesn't have to be "fancy schmancy." However, I also love the chefs that create the "fancy schmancy" dishes and continue to challenge themselves and Milwaukee diners with dishes we've never seen before.

Our media provides attention to the new restaurants, which is great, but I don't like seeing the older great restaurants close their doors (Don Quijote, African Hut) because they've been forgotten, so I try to do my part to let Milwaukeeans know that they're still out there, too. I do that through social media, online reviews, and a dinner club I run for my friends, where we visit restaurants they haven't heard of before or try ethnic cuisine they haven't had before.

My dream is that one day I can mention a great experience in Milwaukee and not have someone respond with "have you been to Chicago?" I don't like those people very much.